


Happy to be Wrong

by seraphic_gate



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Birthday, Graduation, M/M, Slow Burn, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-04 23:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16798987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraphic_gate/pseuds/seraphic_gate
Summary: Tamaki and Sogo’s relationship has always developed out of misunderstandings.  When Sogo writes his first song, it’s for Tamaki.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure yet if this one will go 18+ in the future but it might, so just warning ya in case you want to avoid it.

Tamaki opened the door to the i7 dorms. Iori has gone to meet Riku at the book shop after school, so the quiet afternoon was even quieter than the norm. The lull in the day between the time he got out of school and the hour when most the older boys came home always made him sleepy. He yawned.

As he entered, The sound of a muffled guitar reached his ears from deeper within the house. Sogo must be listening to his music, but Tamaki couldn’t identify which band. 

He went to put his bag away first. The music was still playing and Sogo hadn’t heard him come home, so he rapped his knuckles against Sogo’s door.

The sound stopped with a clumsy fumble of strings. That’s when Tamaki realized that the music wasn’t a recording, that Sogo must have been playing it.

“Come in!”

Tamaki opened the door to find Sogo slipping the belt of a guitar off his shoulders. “You were playing,” he said, as Sogo tucked the guitar away into his closet. 

“Yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it had gotten late. I don’t want to distract you while you’re doing your homework.”

“I don’t have any tonight,” Tamaki said. 

“You don’t?”

He normally would be agitated that Sogo didn’t believe him, but he was kind of lying a little, so it was fair. “I’m supposed to study for finals, but I’ve got it already.” He tapped the side of his head. “It’s all up here.”

Sogo shook his head in dismay. “Why don’t I help you study, just in case?”

He really didn’t need to study all that hard just to pass, and his marks wouldn’t matter either way since he didn’t plan on going to a university after school ended. “I’ll ask Iori when he gets back.”

“It wouldn’t bother me to help you.

A tricky situation. He had wanted to avoid anything that might get Sogo irritated with him, which schoolwork usually did, but the disappointment on his face was too much to resist. 

“Okay, let me go make a snack first.”

“All right. I’ll have some coffee.”

Tamaki started to go, but turned back as he remembered what had brought him here in the first place. “What were you playing?”

Sogo looked up with a hint of blush on his cheeks. “It’s a secret.”

That only made him really want to know. “Not fair.” 

“Why? Do you like it?”

“Yeah, it sounds happy. Does it have words?”

“No, I mean..”. He pulled at his sleeve idly with his fingers. “It doesn’t yet, anyway.”

“Oh.” So it was something Sogo was making up. “Will you let me hear it again when you’re done?”

“Really soon,” Sogo said. “I promise.”

—-

The long awaited last day of school had finally come and gone, and Tamaki could not be more glad about it. As soon as the final door closed, he whipped his tie off and shouted for joy, for which he was admonished by Iori.

That weekend, the office had a graduation party for the two. Mitsuki and Yamato made the food, Nagi and Riku decorated. There was a banner that said “Congratulations!”

Tsumugi and Banri presented them with identically shaped gifts. That in itself had him wary, since he couldn’t imagine what Iori would like that he would also like.

“Congratulations, both from Takanashi studios and from Banri and I,” Tsumugi said. She had already started crying during the dinner speech Yamato made, and was struggling against breaking down again. “We’re so proud of both of you!”

“Geez, Manager is only a year older,” Tamaki groaned. “You’re not old enough to start sounding like our mom.”

“Tamaki,” Iori scolded. “Could you just be grateful? Manager worked very hard so that we continue our studies while—“

Tamaki was already tearing the paper off the gift. Iori sighed. 

“What’s this?” He held up the box. The product picture was like a cell phone, but really big.

“Top of the line tablets for both of you,” Banri said. “We squeezed them out of the budget.”

“You don’t have to use them just for work,” Tsumugi added. “They’re gifts, so feel free to use them for game, or whatever you want!”

“Thank you, Manager.” Iori bowed his head, holding the box close to him. “I’ve wanted something like this for a while.”

“I’m really glad you like it!”

Tamaki looked at the box. It seemed kind of complex.

“Do you need me to help you set it up?” Iori asked.

“No, I wanted to ask Sogo.”

“Well, yeah. Sogo probably does know more about expensive stuff like this.”

Tamaki lifted his head up and looked around the room. “Where is So-Chan anyway?”

Yamato and Mitsuki approached them, both wearing sly grins. “Sogo would like it if you met him in the courtyard,” Yamato said. 

“Alone,” Mitsuki clarified.

Iori shook his head in dismay. “Geez, you make it sound like he’s going to murder him.”

“H-he’s not mad, is he?” Tamaki couldn’t remember doing anything to make Sogo angry, but he didn’t always realize it.

“Not at all!” Mitsuki’s playful smile wasn’t all that comforting. “He said he wanted to give you his present in private.”

“Can you say things without making them sound so suspicious?” Iori said.

—-

Tamaki left the noisy common area where the party was still going on, and stepped out into the brisk March air. It had been dark for hours and though it hadn’t snowed in a while, there was a sheen of ice over the handrails and sidewalks.

Sogo stood there under the outdoor security lamp shining on him like a stage light, holding his guitar in hand.

“Sogo, aren’t you cold?”

Sogo laughed softly. “Yes, but I’m too embarrassed to do this in front of everyone.”

Tamaki looked at the guitar in his hands. “Are you going to play?”

“I wanted to do something special for your graduation,” he said. His eyes flitted from space to space on the tile ground without looking up. Tamaki had thought at first that he was shivering from the cold, but perhaps it was simply anxiety.

Tamaki scratched his head. “You didn’t have to, So-chan.”

“But I’m really proud of you!” Sogo’s voice got a little louder, and Tamaki actually liked it better that way—but he quickly calmed himself. “So, I wrote a song for you. If you don’t mind, I’ll play it for you.”

“The secret song was for me all along?”

“Y-yeah…”

Tamaki sat down on the bench that faced Sogo. “I’m listening.”

Sogo took a deep breath and began to play.

He’d gotten pretty good at the guitar lately, he’d been practicing a lot. His fingers strummed and plucked the strings to the beat of a cheerful tune.

When we started out  
I thought we never get along,  
but in the end, I’ve never been  
so happy to be wrong

Now where you go,  
That’s where I’ll be,  
And where I go,  
You’re there with me.

Together we…

Tamaki listened as Sogo sang. His voice was too timid, falling off key at some points. He wouldn’t make eye contact, he wouldn’t even lift his head. It would be terrible if he were in front of an audience, but if it was just for him, just for Tamaki, then it was fine.

The song ended. Sogo stood there, his face red. He waited for some kind of response.

Tamaki didn’t know if he should clap or cheer, or wave his hands around like their fans would do. Something like that wouldn’t carry the feeling welling up in him to Sogo. Even if it overwhelmed him so much that he couldn’t keep it inside, Sogo would never understand how he felt.

He stood up and closed the gap between Sogo and himself. The look on Sogo’s face was pure anxiety. His shoulders were hunched up, tense. Tamaki was sure that in Sogo’s mind it must seem like world was ending.

He opened his arms wide and enfolded them around Sogo, guitar and all. “Thank you,” he said, pulling him close. “I love this song.”

He felt Sogo relax and sink into his chest. “I’m glad,” Sogo said. “I was sure you’d hate it.”

“Of course I wouldn’t!” He let Sogo go only long enough to lift the guitar strap off his shoulders and set it aside. Then he pulled Sogo into a hug again, holding him as tight as he could. “It’s the best thing anyone has ever given me. And Manager gave me a tablet.”

“Did you really like it so much?” Sogo, even at an average height, was swallowed in the bulk of Tamaki’s arms. 

“Of course I did, don’t be dumb.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t start apologizing for nothing.”

“Then, uh…”. He really seemed to be struggling. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, you’re the one who did all this for me!” He released his tight hug around Sogo and instead held his shoulders steady so that he could look directly into his eyes. “Will you teach me to sing it with you?”

Sogo’s blush had only started to fade away before it was back again with more intensity than before. “If you want to learn it, I’ll be happy to.”


	2. Tamaki’s Birthday

Iori hadn’t chosen a college yet. It was unlikely that any university would let him miss most of his classes, so he knew that he’d have to find something with online courses.

With the tablet the company had given him for graduation, he could sit in any room and go over the possibilities. That made it a lot easier to multi-task. He decided to look at college courses while catching up on a few dramas. 

He wasn’t interested in TV dramas except for the fact that Idolish7 was being asked to guest star in them more frequently, so he tried to keep himself abreast of the current titles. That way he could better recognize any trends that Idolish7 could jump on.

“How’s it coming?” Mitsuki asked. He leaned over the back of the couch to look at the tablet’s screen over Iori’s shoulder. “Are you going to give up stationary now that you’ve got that thing?”

“I prefer real pen and paper for writing notes,” he said. “But the tablet can hold all my spreadsheets and things, so it’s pretty convenient.”

Mitsuki laughed and ruffled his brother’s hair. “It was a joke.”

“Ah...”

Iori looked up at the sound of a guitar playing from deeper inside the house. Tamaki and Sogo’s voices could be heard, although it was difficult to make out the words through the walls.

“Those two are working hard,” Mitsuki said. 

Iori nodded. “Since Tamaki has decided not to pursue further education, he has doubled his efforts towards Mezzo.”

Mitsuki chuckled to himself and then sighed. “We should give him more credit for being responsible.”

“If it’s for Mezzo, I’m sure he’ll work hard. It’s just everything that isn’t about Mezzo or i7 that he’s lazy about.”

“What do you think of their new song?”

“The lyrics are a bit trite,” Iori said. “But I think introducing Sogo’s guitar playing to the brand is a good idea, it lends to their aesthetic. I’m sure Osaka-san’s lyric writing will mature with some practice, too.”

“Have you thought about taking business classes?” Mitsuki asked. “I know it isn’t as fun as history or art, but it always seems as if your heart is in management.”

“That must seem strange for an idol.”

“Not at all. I always worried that you were only pushing me because it’s what I wanted to do.”

Iori groaned. They had been through this conversation many times before. 

“But after seeing how you have been with Riku, Tamaki, and the others all this time...”

He looked up. This was different from the usual lecture about how he was too serious.

Mitsuki smiled. “Your heart is really in helping people achieve their dreams,” he said, “and if thats what makes you happy, then you should pursue that.”

“That’s actually...”. Ideas began to buzz in Iori’s head. “I’ve been wondering if I even want to take college courses, since I know that I could be devoting that time to my work. But if I took classes like that, then I’d be serving both wishes.”

“Then I think you really should!”

“Thank you, ni-san.”

Mitsuki smiled with a brilliance to rival the sun.

***

Mezzo had been invited to collaborate with a designer clothing label. The designer himself enjoyed their songs, and wanted to create a small line based on the two of them.

The “Sogo” clothing was minimalist in cool neutrals, while the “Tamaki” clothing was distressed and had a pop here and there of primary colors. They could be worn in sets or mixed together for a balanced look.

It felt strange to be in the clothes that bore this logo. Sogo remembered wearing this brand a long time ago, when he was in high school and lived with his parents. It felt like another life, when he used to be a different person.

Back then it had felt like a betrayal of himself to wear clothing his parents had given him just for the status of them, and yet now the designer catered to him, found inspiration in him.

“I want to wear the Sogo jacket,” he heard Tamaki saying to the director. “There’s one my size, right? Can we do a few photos where we mix the clothes?”

“Good idea, but let’s pick out a Tamaki item for Sogo to wear as well.”

Tamaki approached him with a red designer hat from his side of the collection. “Here, So-chan,” he said. “You look cute in hats, so please wear this.”

Sogo hurried his brain past that first part and concentrated on the hat. “But is that bright red going to work for me?”

“Your hair is white, so it goes with everything, doesn’t it?”

“It doesn’t quite work like that.”

Tamaki took the liberty of putting the hat on Sogo’s head. “A little to the side,” he said, adjusting the tilt of it. “There, now it’s super cute.”

Sogo felt himself starting to blush. His red face would only make the color of the hat look worse on him.

***

Because the shoot was quite long, with so many changes of clothing, they were given a break at the half way point.

“Tama-kun?” Sogo said. “Do you have any plans after our shoot has ended?”

Tamaki looked up from the break room couch and quickly swallowed a full of the water he had been drinking. “Do you want to go somewhere with me?”

Sogo suddenly felt embarrassed. “How did you know that?”

“Well not that I’m not in school anymore, so there’s no reason you’d be asking me about my homework or if I’m getting to bed on time, right?”

“Ah, I see.”

“And,” Tamaki smiled. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say, so I said it.”

“You were hoping?” It seemed like it was not that long ago that they could not wait to be away from each other.

“Yeah. Where do you want to go?” 

Sogo smiled. “I was hoping we could go back to the star cafe,” he said. 

“The one that that had the really cute dog?”

“Yes, that one.”

Tamaki thought to himself. “Come to think of it, I always wanted to go back, but there hasn’t been any time.”

“It’s true, the reason I wanted to ask about it tonight is because we won’t have another day off until after your birthday. Even though you don’t have school to worry about, your schedule will be packed solid until then.”

“Ah, So-chan...” Tamaki looked down at the bottle of water in his hands.

Sogo worried he hadn’t realized how little free time there was. “It’s okay if you’d rather not do anything,” he said. “You’ve been working hard, and I understand if you’d rather rest.”

“No, I want to go!” He said that loudly, and then swallowed hard and settled down. “It’s just that you already did a really nice thing just for me on graduation, and you’re already thinking about me again.”

“Is that bad?”

“It’s not bad!” Tamaki huffed, frustrated. “But I haven’t had a chance to pay you back yet, and you’re already worried about my birthday.”

“It’s not like we can rearrange the months of the year,” Sogo said, laughing softly. 

“Well okay, but just wait for May to come,” Tamaki said. “I’ll give you five birthdays worth.”

Sogo thought that sounded more menacing than he probably had meant it to be, but it was a sweet thought.

***

They took a taxi across town. Tamaki didn’t mind the ride, even though it was taking a while. He got to sit in the backseat with Sogo, and there was a partition so the driver couldn’t hear them. It felt more private and special than a regular car ride.

“Maybe I should have chosen a closer spot,” Sogo said.

“No way. I wanted to go to the star cafe. You read my mind.”

Sogo covered a small laugh with his hand. That mannerism of his was really cute. “If I could read your mind things would be a lot different.”

If only Sogo knew how true that was. Tamaki sighed.

“I just feel bad,” Sogo said. “This is your last free time for weeks to come and it’ll take almost an hour just to get there.”

“Do I look impatient?” Tamaki raised his arms up to invite inspection.

“I suppose not,” Sogo said. “But I wouldn’t blame you if you were bored.”

Tamaki looked out the window as identical street lamps passed by one after the other. City lights sparkled in the distance. 

Since school ended, there hadn’t been nearly as many times when Tamaki was forced to sit still and be quiet. There were still some meetings and formal dinners and stuff like that, but those were few and far between.

He found himself missing those moments. Not the lectures or the studying, but quiet times in general.

He looked over to Sogo and caught him looking at him. 

Sogo smiled. “Since we’ve got a while, do you want me to show you some things on your tablet?”

“Oh, yeah.” He pulled it out of his bag. 

“Looks like you started decorating it.”

It was in a blue case and he had plastered the back with Pudding King stickers. “Well they don’t make an Osama Pudding case or else I would have gotten it.”

Sogo laughed again. He seemed really amused, and not disappointed or anything. Tamaki smiled in return.

“Let’s set a pass code,” Sogo said. “That way, if anyone steals it or picks it up by mistake, they won’t be able to get to any sensitive information.”

“Okay, can you make it my birthday?”

“Tama,” Sogo’s tone was scolding, but Tamaki liked the nickname. “That’s too obvious, it would be easy to guess.”

“Then can I make it your birthday?” 

“Hm,” Sogo thought. “I suppose that would be more difficult for someone to assume.”

“Okay then! 0512.”

Sogo showed him how to set the lock. 

“What image do you want on your lock screen?” Sogo asked. “I think you can get Osama Pudding wallpaper if you want.”

“Uh...” Tamaki flipped through his pictures. “I want this one.”

It was a candid picture of them behind a set. Tamaki’s arm was slung over Sogo’s shoulder. Sogo was smiling in it, in that kind of uncertain way that he often did when he wasn’t prepared for a photo. Riku and Iori were in the background, and behind them you could see Manager, too.

“That’s a nice picture,” Sogo said. “Can you send it to me?”

“Yeah, Yama is the one who took it.” He sent the picture to Sogo through rabbitchat.

Sogo’s phone screen currently had a picture of the album cover from a band that he liked. He changed it to the picture of them together.

“Ah, now our screens will match?”

“Is that okay?”

“Yeah, I think it’ll be fun.”

***

Thankfully the cafe wasn’t busy when they arrived. Sogo knew that Tamaki didn’t enjoy crowds very much.

“Do you want some hot chocolate?”

Tamaki nodded. “Yeah.”

“How about something sweet? They have a nice flan. That’s a kind of pudding so maybe you’ll like it?”

“That sounds good, too.”

Sogo ordered a coffee for himself. 

“Ah, I want to hurry and find the best spot before someone else takes it.”

“That’s fine,” Sogo said. “I’ll bring the order to you when it’s ready.”

“Thanks.”

It didn’t take very long for their order to be made. Sogo took a sip off of his coffee before picking up both mugs and Tamaki’s flan. 

He realized that he wasn’t sure where “the best spot” according to Tamaki was.

He carried the mugs up the stairs, figuring that Tamaki would want to be near one of the rooftop telescopes. He sighed in relief to find that he was right, and he wouldn’t have to climb back down.

“Over here!” Tamaki waved and came over to him. “Here, let me take those.”

It was a little chilly that evening even though it was nearly April. Everyone else was staying inside. All of the spots on the roof were vacant at the moment.

“Looks like you didn’t have to worry about the spots after all,” he said.

Tamaki must have noticed him clutching the warm coffee mug with both hands and shivering. He turned on the electric fire pit at the center of a circle of chairs. “That’s why this is the best spot,” he said.

Sogo smiled and nestled into the padded outdoor chair. He watched Tamaki frantically search himself for change so that he could operate the telescope mounted nearby.

“Here, I got you some tokens.”

“You’re the best!” He took the tokens from Sogo’s hand eagerly with a big smile. “Come on, let me show you the constellations!”

Sogo was only just getting warmed up by the fire pit, but he couldn’t say no. “Okay. Is it any different from the last time?”

“A little,” he said, adjusting the scope. “It’s a different time of year, and we’re here later at night than that time, so the stars will be in different positions.”

Sogo chuckled. “Your interest in stars surprised me,” he said. “The first time we came here, I really couldn’t believe that you had so much knowledge about it stored up in your head.”

Tamaki pouted. “Why is it such a big surprise?”

“Well, because you hated school so much,” Sogo said. “You always did well in school, but it was like trying to push a bull out the door on some mornings to get you to go.”

“Pfft. The bull is your sign, So-chan.”

“Is it? I guess I can be pretty stubborn, too.”

Tamaki looked up from the telescope to the sky. It was clear that night, another lucky blessing.

“Me and Aya had a telescope,” he said. “Mom gave it to us a long time ago. I memorized all this stuff so I could show her things. It felt nice to know a lot about something for once.”

Sogo stepped closer. “Maybe you’re would enjoy an astronomy course,” he said. “I know you don’t want to become a student, but maybe just one course would be okay.”

“What about you?”

He looked up to find Tamaki looking at him. “About me taking classes?”

“Yeah. You didn’t finish.”

“That’s because I hated the study I was in.” He sighed.

“But if it’s something you like, would t be different?”

“Maybe. I’d like to learn even more about music,” he said. “I took music appreciation as my elective and I liked that a lot.”

“What if I take music classes?”

“Huh?” Tamaki was looking at him with a serious expression, waiting for his response. “Do you want to?”

“If I could go to class with you,” he said. “That would be fun.”

Sogo laughed and played with a piece of his hair nervously. “Ah, I thought you really hated it when we studied together.”

Tamaki frowned. “That’s not true.”

“But you griped and complained!”

“Because I hate doing boring stuff,” he said. “But when you helped me, it  
was less boring.”

“Ha, well...” Sogo sighed. “What if I take an astronomy class with you?”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“Stars are interesting,” he said. He had never really had much interest in that, but it wasn’t as if they were boring. “But, I think it would be fair if you take a class that I’m good at, I should take one you’re good at.”

He hummed thoughtfully at that. “Okay. I’ll tell Manager Banri when we get back that we both want to take some courses.” He laughed. “He’s going to be really surprised after I said ‘hell no’ so many times.”

Sogo laughed too. Poor Banri having to put up with their antics.

Silence fell between them as the time on the telescope ran out, but Tamaki didn’t rush to put another coin in. Instead, he was looking at Sogo.

“Ah—“. Sogo fumbled in his bag. It was as good a time as any. “I wanted to get you a real present this time,” Sogo said. “I don’t know if you’ll like it very much, but—“

“You already got me the best gift ever,” he said. “Sou, really—“

Sogo handed him a small package. He had gone out of his way to find King Pudding wrapping paper for it.

Tamaki took it gently from him and held it in his hands for a moment before tearing into the paper.

Sogo looked away. He had never been good at giving people gifts. It was suddenly too embarrassing to look up.

Inside the box was a leather bracelet with a metal band on one side. Engraved in the metal was the constellation of Aries.

“This is so cool!” Tamaki looked up at Sogo and down at the box in his hands again. 

“I don’t know if you would even wear something like this, but...”

Tamaki was already trying to get it on his wrist with little success. “Can you help me put it on?”

Sogo looked back at Tamaki. His hand was held out. He took the bracelet and steadied Tamaki’s wrist. The fastening snapped over itself like a watch’s band.

“Do you like it?”

Tamaki held it up to the light of a nearby lamp and admired it. “Yeah, it looks cool.”

Sogo sighed in relief. 

“Even if it was ugly I’d still like it if you gave it to me,” Tamaki laughed. 

“You say that, but I’m glad I could pick something you like.”

Tamaki went back to staring at him with a serious look on his face. “Sou, are you cold?”

“Uh, not too cold.” He wished he had worn a heavier jacket, but it wasn’t so bad.

“Your face is all red.”

He couldn’t do much but laugh at that. Of course his face was red, but that had nothing to do with the cold.

“Come on, I don’t want you to get sick.” He put his hand on Sogo’s shoulder and led him back to the row of seats with the fire pit. 

Once they were seated, he took off his own jacket and draped it over Sogo. It was way too big for him. “You don’t need to do that.”

“Just take it,” Tamaki sighed. Then something occurred to him and he laughed. “You’re stubborn all right, but you’re too polite to be a bull.”

Sogo laughed, too. 

They didn’t need the telescope after all. The sky was so clear that Tamaki could point out all the constellations and planets visible from this part of the world. Sogo had heard it before, but he was happy to listen again.

They sat together until it came time for the cafe to close. Then they shared another long taxi ride home.


End file.
